CHAPTER VII.
Early in the morning the physician arrived at Cherbury. It remainedfor him only to approve of the remedies which had been pursued. Nomaterial change, however, had occurred in the state of Venetia: shehad not slept, and still she seemed unconscious of what was occurring.The gracious interposition of Nature seemed the only hope. When themedical men had withdrawn to consult in the terrace-room, Lady Annabelbeckoned to Pauncefort, and led her to the window of Venetia'sapartment, which she would not quit.
'Pauncefort,' said Lady Annabel, 'Venetia has been in her father'sroom.'
'Oh! impossible, my lady,' burst forth Mistress Pauncefort; but LadyAnnabel placed her finger on her lip, and checked her. 'There is nodoubt of it, there can be no doubt of it, Pauncefort; she entered ityesterday; she must have passed the morning there, when you believedshe was in the park.'
'But, my lady,' said Pauncefort, 'how could it be? For I scarcely leftyour la'ship's room a second, and Miss Venetia, I am sure, never wasnear it. And the key, my lady, the key is in the casket. I saw it halfan hour ago with my own eyes.'
'There is no use arguing about it, Pauncefort,' said Lady Annabel,with decision. 'It is as I say. I fear great misfortunes are about tocommence at Cherbury.'
'Oh! my lady, don't think of such things,' said Pauncefort, herselfnot a little alarmed. 'What can happen?'
'I fear more than I know,' said Lady Annabel; 'but I do fear much. Atpresent I can only think of her.'
'Well! my lady,' said poor Mistress Pauncefort, looking bewildered,'only to think of such a thing! and after all the pains I have taken!I am sure I have not opened my lips on the subject these fifteenyears; and the many questions I have been asked too! I am sure thereis not a servant in the house--'
'Hush! hush!' said Lady Annabel, 'I do not blame you, and thereforeyou need not defend yourself. Go, Pauncefort, I must be alone.'Pauncefort withdrew, and Lady Annabel resumed her seat by herdaughter's side.
On the fourth day of her attack the medical attendants observed afavourable change in their patient, and were not, of course, slow incommunicating this joyful intelligence to her mother. The crisis hadoccurred and was past: Venetia had at length sunk into slumber. Howdifferent was her countenance from the still yet settled featuresthey had before watched with such anxiety! She breathed lightly, thetension of the eyelids had disappeared, her mouth was slightly open.The physician and his colleague declared that immediate danger waspast, and they counselled Lady Annabel to take repose. On conditionthat one of them should remain by the side of her daughter, thedevoted yet miserable mother quitted, for the first time her child'sapartment. Pauncefort followed her to her room.
'Oh! my lady,' said Pauncefort, 'I am so glad your la'ship is going tolie down a bit.'
'I am not going to lie down, Pauncefort. Give me the key.'
And Lady Annabel proceeded alone to the forbidden chamber, thatchamber which, after what has occurred, we may now enter with her, andwhere, with so much labour, she had created a room exactly imitativeof their bridal apartment at her husband's castle. With a slow butresolved step she entered the apartment, and proceeding immediately tothe table, took up the book; it opened at the stanzas to Venetia. Thepages had recently been bedewed with tears. Lady Annabel then lookedat the bridal bed, and marked the missing rose in the garland: it wasas she expected. She seated herself then in the chair opposite theportrait, on which she gazed with a glance rather stern than fond.
'Marmion,' she exclaimed, 'for fifteen years, a solitary votary,I have mourned over, in this temple of baffled affections, theinevitable past. The daughter of our love has found her way, perhapsby an irresistible destiny, to a spot sacred to my long-concealedsorrows. At length she knows her father. May she never know more! Mayshe never learn that the being, whose pictured form has commanded heradoration, is unworthy of those glorious gifts that a gracious Creatorhas bestowed upon him! Marmion, you seem to smile upon me; you seemto exult in your triumph over the heart of your child. But there is apower in a mother's love that yet shall baffle you. Hitherto I havecome here to deplore the past; hitherto I have come here to dwellupon the form that, in spite of all that has happened, I still was,perhaps, weak enough, to love. Those feelings are past for ever. Yes!you would rob me of my child, you would tear from my heart the onlyconsolation you have left me. But Venetia shall still be mine; andI, I am no longer yours. Our love, our still lingering love, hasvanished. You have been my enemy, now I am yours. I gaze upon yourportrait for the last time; and thus I prevent the magical fascinationof that face again appealing to the sympathies of my child. Thus andthus!' She seized the ancient dagger that we have mentioned as lyingon the volume, and, springing on the chair, she plunged it into thecanvas; then, tearing with unflinching resolution the severed parts,she scattered the fragments over the chamber, shook into a thousandleaves the melancholy garland, tore up the volume of his enamouredMuse, and then quitting the chamber, and locking and double lockingthe door, she descended the staircase, and proceeding to the greatwell of Cherbury, hurled into it the fatal key.
'Oh! my lady,' said Mistress Pauncefort, as she met Lady Annabelreturning in the vestibule, 'Doctor Masham is here.'
'Is he?' said Lady Annabel, as calm as usual. 'I will see him before Ilie down. Do not go into Venetia's room. She sleeps, and Mr. Hawkinshas promised me to let me know when she wakes.'